


Monster in the Making

by Pixxyofice



Category: Splatoon, The Monster Of Twilight Town, 黄昏町の怪物
Genre: 2 deaths..., Blood and Violence, Character Death, Chiyu Maeda is our unfortunate protagonist, Drowning, Gen, Horror, Non-Graphic Violence, This is for the monster of twilight town shidanmaker game. i will link in author's notes, burned alive, i'll get the rules down in author's notes as well., if you think this fic needs more tags please let me know!!, knowledge of splatoon and splatoon 2 is somewhat needed for protagonist, the game is in japanese but google translate works okay, which is why splatoon is tagged, will tag more as needed but this IS horror...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:13:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice
Summary: Chiyu, of the Maeda family, had enough.She was going to go to the surface, and she was going to become a cool fashion model! Or maybe just a cool idol? Something cool! She liked cool things, and not being stuck underground in a dying society.... She ends up somewhere else, instead.---A Monster of Twilight Town writing thing, because, well, i got inspired by someone chronicling their own adventure, why not do it for myself? with an Octoling, because octolings haven't suffered enough already...(current warnings: blood)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 12





	1. Red Blood

**Author's Note:**

> There is a shindanmaker little story game called 'the monster of twilight town' (that's the english translated name, anyway). Your character starts somewhere (as determined by this guy https://shindanmaker.com/541552), and every day, you roll up what happens to your character. They can die, but dying isn't the end until your SOUL reaches zero. you start with 10 soul, 0 strength, and 0 search.
> 
> There's a... much better explanation by someone who knows how to translate japanese and is doing their own playthrough with the octo Ahato Mizuto, who may be more known as Dedf1sh for some. I'll link their rules post for their blog- https://06-frisk.tumblr.com/rules. The homebrew rule can be ignored, of course, as well as other things, but they explain the base rules well.
> 
> This game is... horror inspired, obviously. My first day got... well.
> 
> Sorry splatoon fans, you'll be seeing this for a bit. I just wanted to place this writing somewhere!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> When you come to, you are in the middle of a railroad crossing. The circuit breaker is down, but there is no sign of a train coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 Soul | 0 Strength | 0 Search
> 
> (town prompt) "I'll help you if you do." A strange-looking man, like you, is looking out for you. [if you kill a resident in cooperation with the man, -1 soul. if you allow yourself to get killed, -2 soul, and gain the mutation Fireball. (+1 search and fire resistance)]

Chiyu Maeda woke up to find herself in the middle of a railroad crossing.

You know, for trains.

The cool octo idol wannabe scrambled off the tracks, fear flashing through her eyes and three hearts. Her tentacles brushed against the circuit breaker as she crawled beneath it, which only made the fear intensify. It was only when she turned around that she noticed that she wasn't in any actual danger- the tracks were worn down, broken in many places, and there was nothing similar to the sound of wheels approaching.

That was silly. Why would she think that?

...she must've gotten here somehow. That's why she thought that.

As she turned around, her eyes happened upon an older man. He had strange, glistening eyes, strange fur on his head, and his arms were covered in... something. He stood with a cane beneath him, and he wore a large cloak.

As she approached the cloaked man to ask him where she was, her eyes were drawn to some squirming at the man's feet. Her eyes widened. There was... another man, tied with some rope, with a ball gag in his mouth. His clothes were more casual, and there were rope burns up and down his arms.

"Wh-" Her words get caught in her throat. 

The cloaked man only smiled, and his teeth were strange. Some pointed at the ends, some were flat. They grinded against each other. "Welcome, young one... someone will have to show you the ropes."

He reached into his cloak with one hand, and he pulled out a knife. There's something covering the edges of it. He beckoned her closer, and she obeyed. 

The knife was given to her, and the handle felt right in her hands. The knife's edge was sharp, and whatever was on the end of it was old. The odd color of whatever was stuck on it still made her squirm, for some reason.

"If you let him escape," The cloaked man said, voice serene, "he will tell the townspeople. They will be after you, for your strange appearance."

What. _ What? _

"My appearance ain't strange. You're the strange one." Chiyu huffed, knife trembling in her hands. "What will they do to me?"

"Kill you. Burn you. Anything to get you out." His voice was still serene, but his words feel like he had just stuck the knife in her hands into one of her hearts. He chuckled. "Doesn't matter, does it? As long as you die."

The man in bonds glared up at her. He screamed into his muffle.

The cloaked man looked down at him, eyebrows creasing. His smile didn't seem to waver. "I was lucky to have caught him in a trap of mine." He looked back to to Chiyu, and Chiyu found a spark of fear in those gray eyes. "If he escapes, we both shall be hunted."

"What 'm I supposed ta do?" Chiyu scowled, grip tighter on the knife she was given. It shook in her hands. "He's 'ound up tight."

The cloaked man shook his head. The tied up man squirmed a bit, and the cloaked man kicked him in the side. Chiyu winced. The cloaked man looked back to her. "He is skilled. You must learn this now- kill him, and he will take our appearances to the grave."

Her hearts pound. The knife still shook. 

Kill? Should she trust the cloaked man? His strange smile was both calming and unnerving, but the way the things on his arms move, and how his hair seems to move without the wind... he is odd. 

The man in bonds growled, and she saw hatred gleaming in his eyes. Like the ones of her peers, talking about the escaped engineer Marina. Like the escaped soldiers before her. Like other members of their society.

The knife doesn't shake as much now. She kneeled next to the man in bonds. The cloaked man takes a few steps away, cane the only noise other than the brush of dirt beneath the bound man. 

She's done this before. She's killed something before. Nothing that resembled  _ her _ , but it was a similar thing... right? She lifted her knife over the man, and the hatred that gleamed in his eyes shifted to something else.

The knife flies down. Something covered her hands. The way the knife sinks in, breaking his skin, is satisfying.

The man's yelling, even muffled, seems to grow louder.

Chiyu makes the knife fly down again. And again. The blood splatters over more of her, and the ropes around him are starting to fray, edges red.

Stabbing. She was stabbing him. 

She kept doing it.

The man in bonds stopped moving, and Chiyu was sure that he was dead. His eyes are no longer moving, no longer filled with a hatred that she had seen before she had escaped to wherever this was.

She's shaking. She can't stop the chuckle from escaping her, comprehending what she had just done. 

Red blood. She hadn't seen that before. Red blood was just a fantasy, just something whispered among the generals about how the truly honorable among them bled red, instead of blue.

The red coats her hands, covers her claws, covers the ropes and covers the knife she had used for stabbing, covering the previously brown... _something_ that was on it. Killing someone honorable. Was that what she had done?

The cloaked man nodded at her, his smile still as serene, like he hadn't just seen her stab someone over and over, like the red blood wasn't still dripping from her claws. 

"You prevented a death of yourself." He said, voice calm. His cane tapped against the ground as he moved closer. She doesn't look up at him. He shifted his weight on his cane, the creaking catching her ears. "Aren't you proud?"

She doesn't feel proud. She's still shaking.  _ Red blood.... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose the option that let Chiyu live. Partner told me that it was more worth it to stay alive...
> 
> 9 Soul | 0 Strength | 0 Search


	2. Wash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> a gate and a bridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 Soul | 0 Strength | 0 Search
> 
> (town prompt) Beyond the torii gate, you can see a bridge leading to the night. But there seems to be an invisible barrier. You can't pass through monsters. 《Successful escape from twilight town when soul is 5 or less and there is no deformity, or power is 10 or more and search is 4 or more》
> 
> translation for that last bit: you can escape if you have 5 or less soul AND no mutations, OR have power of 10+ and search of 4+. Well.

The sun was setting when her hands stopped shaking. Chiyu felt tempted to wipe her hands on her forehead, beneath her octoglasses, but remembered that her hands were still covered in blood.

Red blood.

Covering her hands and clothes and soaking into her very skin, like the deed she had done would stick to her.

She wasn't shaking, but she felt gross. About herself, about what she had done... for some vague prevention of death. She stared at her hands, watching as the dripping slowly stopped.

"I know a place where we can clean ourselves." The old man said, voice still calm, an anchor for her to hold onto. Even if it was unnerving how he didn't react... "Follow me, strange one."

Chiyu pressed herself up from the ground, and followed after him, trying to focus on the back of the man's cloak. The edges are frayed, with little holes poked here and there. The hood of the cloak is down, torn apart and made useless by what seemed to look like... claws?

"Strange.. I ain't strange." Chiyu mumbled. "You're the 'ne with fur on your head." 

The old man stopped walking, and Chiyu stumbled over herself trying to stop before she got any of her blood on his dark cloak. He turned towards her, grip on his cane tightening. His smile turned more neutral.

"That is called hair. You are indeed a strange one." The man shook his head, eyes closing. A slight breeze picked up, and Chiyu went to grab at her arms- only to stop at the sight of the blood on her hands again. "I know this for fact... you will be seen as strange. The townspeople are like me. Without the scales."

Chiyu blinked, looking back down at his arms, at what was visible through the sleeves. So the stuff covering his arms were... scales?

"Why d'you have scales?" She asked, eyes widening slightly. "If 's unusual..."

The old man shook his head. "I do not wish to tell you."

Chiyu narrowed her eyes. "After you made me kill someone?" Her voice shook at the word kill, and she growled, beak showing. Her bloodied hands curled up. "You push me to kill, but won' tell me how ya got your scales?"

"You will find out, if you stay long enough." The man turned back around. "Let us get to a place to wash."

The conversation ended there.

Eventually, they ended up near a river. Chiyu found her eyes gazing up towards what was hanging over the river- a bridge, and a gate like those found in the countryside. She remembered that much, but not what they were called.

The bridge led out to a thick forest. She couldn't access it from this river, since there was a large cliff that seemed to be super flat, unable to be held onto.

The man took off his cloak, and Chiyu saw the scales that lined his arms, legs, and neck. He wore a shirt beneath the cloak, but it was old- it was starting to stretch. He laid down in the water, closing his eyes and smiling again.

Chiyu slipped her shirt off her body, shoving it into the water from her place by the banks. She saw the red slip off her hands, a dull shade of red spreading in the water. Her hands were tingling, but due to not submerging herself, she wasn't in danger.

The man peeked an eye open, then blinked both of them open. His smile faded for a brief moment, but replaced itself quickly. "Hm... You don't have the normal anatomy of a human woman."

She choked on air. Human? "...Ain't humans extinct?" She asked, swirling her shirt in the water.

The man closed his eyes again, and she noticed something on his neck move. 

He didn't respond.

...

She finished cleaning her clothes and arms. There was still a dull red stuck on some of her shirt, but at least her shirt was red, so that didn't matter. The man put his cloak back on, grabbed his cane, and the two of them made their way off the riverbank.

They passed by the gate and the bridge. The bridge, leading to the forest... There was an exit... right there... 

She broke apart from the man, who only turned to watch her, hands on the cane. She should've noticed this. 

She didn't. She ran, ran, ran-

And then she rammed into something. The force propelled her back, and a yelp tore itself from her throat. She stumbled back, holding a hand to her nose, eyes focused on what should've been an easy escape. An easy victory.

"If that would have worked," The man said, cane clicking against the bridge, "I would have been gone long ago."

Chiyu turned back to the man, eyes narrowing.

"Perhaps it was your strange form that prevented escape." The man smiled, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Let us depart- we can only travel during nightfall, after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, stuck here because too much soul....
> 
> 9 soul | 0 strength | 0 search


	3. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> an abandoned car park on a cliff.  
> water, the weakness of those like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 Soul | 0 Strength | 0 Search
> 
> (town prompt) The residents rolled into the reservoir with the scrapped cars you were resting on. 《Escape with Water Resistant [Soul +1], Waterless with Possessed [Soul-2 / Acquire variant "scale (water resistance, power +1)"]》
> 
> ... luckily for me, the blog i got to know this from had this prompt! BASICALLY... the car your character rested in got rolled into A Lot Of Water. With water resistance, you don't die. Without water resistance...

When the daylight broke over the horizon of trees and houses and roads, the cloaked man suggested they find a place to rest. If they moved when the villagers didn't, and slept when they were out, they would be safer.

A nocturnal schedule. Chiyu was used to working with different schedules piled onto her every angle, as one of the many engineers working in Octo Valley. This would just be another.

The cloaked, older man found a car park, and Chiyu found her mind racing. This was filled with all sorts of good materials, good things to scrape together and make into something else... but she did not bring any equipment with her, other than her clothes.

She mentally cursed herself for that. Then she took it back- she thought she was going to a surface where those skills weren't going to be needed. Chiyu didn't expect to make it here, in a place where an old man with a oddly serene smile at most times and scales lining his body was her most trusted acquaintance.

They settled into the same car. 

Chiyu curled up into the backseat of the car, her eyes focused on the seat ahead of her. The old man lay in one of the seats, leaning the chair back so far it almost touched her legs. The lack of noise made Chiyu feel uneasy, her claws curling and uncurling as rest was unable to find her.

The man started to snore. That startled Chiyu, the Octoling almost pressing against the back of the seat before she realized it was just him, and not the rumbling of a car.

The sound... it was what she needed. As she settled back down into her laying position, with the man's snores her noise, she found her eyes drooping closed. As her breathing slowed, and her brain wound down, she found her body shifting back into her regular octopus form.

That was her most comfortable form, after all...

... she awoke later to the sound of grunting. There was the sound of scraping, like nails against a chalkboard, that echoed through the car. The man still slept, eyes closed and snore still echoing in the small space. The scraping was louder, but originated outside the car.

Her head hurt. Her octopus form curled around the handle, pulling herself up to look out the shattered window.

Many people. 

Some octolings, some human, all of them glaring, all of them pushing. 

At the sight of her peeking out the broken window, some of the octolings froze up. Their eyes widened, and their tentacles stopped in the air. Shock lined their very expressions, and their claws lifted in the air.

The humans did not stop. No shock to their systems at seeing a small, pink octopus.  They pushed.

Chiyu's hearts stopped when she realized that the balance of the car had started to tilt. She made the mistake of looking back to the front of the car, where the old man was somehow still sleeping, and seeing the height of the cliff before her.

There was nothing but water to stop the fall.

She was an octoling. A creature made from thin lining, filled with ink, and definitely not meant to be submerged inside of water for long periods of time.

The car plummeted, crashed in the water. If the car had no windows already, the impact would've done that job already. The water rushed into the car, a tide so strong Chiyu didn't really have time to process it as water started to pile, pile, pile, pushing in from all sides.

She shifted back into her octoling form, panic starting to settle in as the water blasted in. The man wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving? She could see the water blasting into his side, why wasn't he moving? Was he dead?

The water filled up to her knees, and she could feel it bite away at her legs. She crawled into a corner that hadn't been filled yet, but it was filling up fast.

The water bit at her form, tried to tear away the only thing protecting the ink inside of her- inside of all squids and octos- from leaking out, diffusing into the water and making her...

Making her...

The water filled into the car fully, and her clothes were starting to float, and her body was tearing itself apart, and bubbles and ink escaping her mouth in equal measure as she couldn't hold her breath anymore.  She couldn't breathe. 

She tried to, tried to force something into her that would help her live, but it only tore more and more ink out of her. She could feel her skin ripping away, and she tried to swim, tried to shift, but it was hard, and she was sure that, if she were on land, she would be crying.

Pain. _Pain_. She got weaker, and the sight of the cliff that was above her was slowly dimming, and the water around her got darker and darker.

She remembered the other octolings, shock lining their features as they took notice of her. Their hatred had been for the human. The human that she had teamed up with, had killed for on his advice.

_ I'm sorry _

Pink bled into the water. Darkness bled through her sight.

_ I shou ld n't h **a v e** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOOPS. how do i update the tags now
> 
> 7 soul | 1 strength | 0 search  
> mutations: scales - water resistance, +1 strength


	4. Heart of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> when you notice, you're sitting on the bench at the bus stop. Noticing you got up, the cat on your lap jumped down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 soul | 1 strength | 0 search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength
> 
> (town prompt) The iron gate fence, which opens sideways from the government office, is open. When you tried to enter, the residents were closing the gate at once.《Permitted if you have 2 or less variants [Soul +1], Compression with 3 or more variants [Obtain Soul -2/ Variation "Stone Skin [fire resistance, power+1"]》
> 
> ... I think that's pretty clear, right? a resident-filled place...

Head pounding and body aching, Chiyu returned to consciousness.

Hey, wait a moment. 

_Consciousness_? Chiyu remembered her body ripping apart, and her ink flowing into the large body of water she had been drowning in, how was she conscious, let alone _alive_?

Her head still pounded. She lifted her arm to press a hand against her forehead, and realized there was something on her lap. The small creature who had curled up there had a lot of black fur, and was thin. It was looking up at her with big green eyes that looked similar to Judd's yellow.

When their eyes met, the creature jumped off of her. It stretched out slightly, tail curling in the air, before running away.

What was that creature? It seemed similar to the Judd of the surface, according to the rumors she heard trickle into the underground, but it was so thin and had a different fur color, it couldn't be what Judd was. Chiyu wasn't sure...

Her headache was subsiding, and she released her hand from her forehead. While her head wasn't pounding anymore, her body still ached a lot.

She thought about the man, sleeping as they traveled to the depths. The Octoling found her lips curling at the thought of him- the same as the people who had pushed the car they were resting in into the water, yes, but this was more personal.

She had _killed_ for him. He was clearly wanted. He had _slept_ through her _drowning_.

How was she even here, if she had drowned? She remembered drowning, remembered feeling _pain_ , but she was on the surface now. How?

Her body still ached, but most of the aching had gone away by now. Her arms were starting to itch. She reached over with one hand and started to scratch-

Only to realize that her fingers brushed over something that definitely was not her skin. 

Her skin was one of the softer skins in the Octoling Army, as one of the many engineers who didn't see fighting, and the roughest it had gotten was when there was dirt and oil over it. There were no sharp points interspersed through her skin, and the sharpest things on her body were her beak and claws.

There was not supposed to be something sharp on her arm. 

She looked down at her arm, holding it up to the light of the orange and pink sky. Dotting down her arms, where she remembered feeling the pain of her body ripping apart, were scales, just like the old man she had been traveling with had. Instead of his scales, which had seemed to blend with his skin tone and made it seem like he just had some weird bumpy skin, her scales were the color of her ink.

The feeling of aching... it was still sort of there, and Chiyu was looking at the source of it. She ran her hand over the scale again, trying to process it. Her scales... they were pretty, even if she _wasn't supposed to have **scales** _. Her scales were scattered over her arms, leaving space to look at her original skin color, which made the light pink color of the scales stand out more.

On a whim, she focused on changing her ink color. She focused on the color blue, on the dark shade, an opposite to her soft pink she had before. Chiyu watched as the scales on her arms changed color, darkening and shifting to the dark blue she was focusing on. 

The scales reacted to what her ink color was... that was odd.

She shifted her scales back to pink. She liked that color better than dark blue.

She pushed herself up from the bench, eyeing the sign that was nearby. What was the sign for? Was that a surface thing?

Was this the surface?

She didn't want to think about it. After glancing down at her open legs and confirming the scattered scales were down there as well, she started to walk away from the bench and the sign standing next to it.

She wondered what that creature was.

During her walk across abandoned sidewalks and silent houses, she felt... lonely. The man, as much as she disliked him now, had been good company. She was alone now, with the first creature she spotted as she woke up having ran away from her. 

Her boots echoed in her ears as she walked, walked, walked... the sun got lower in the sky, and the orange and pinks of the sky were fading to purple.

Chiyu noticed the light first. It was bright yellow, shining through the darkening sky. The next thing she noticed was that the light was connected to a building. It was not a regular house, but had a formal look to it- it resembled the buildings that the generals of the octoling army had.

Her heart pounded. People.

The man's advice had done her wrong before. She started to race towards the light, the building, that sense of familiarity that she had been missing so much. Her feet pounded against the ground as she ran, ran, ran-

There was a gate. It was starting to close. She ran faster, boots tearing into the ground, hearts pounding and oh, cod, she really needed to make it, this building seemed _Safe_ , the lights were _Safe_ , to hell with what the cloaked man said-

It stopped closing before she got there, and she stumbled as she got through the gate. It was a tight squeeze, but she was here... She was inside of a small village, she was...

Her legs fell from beneath her, the energy taken out of her. She was not a soldier, she was not used to running that fast.

"Maeda!" Someone called, and her eyes snapped up to find...

An Octoling. She wore headphones around her ears, a baggy shirt that almost covered her hand claws, a skirt that went to her ankles, and flip flops that exposed her toe claws. She ran over to Chiyu, kneeling by her side. 

The other octoling traced a finger on her face, and Chiyu realized that she had some scales on her face, as well- she could feel the rough edges and weird surface area of the scales as the other Octoling rubbed over it.

"I..."

"No need to explain." The Octoling sighed, leaning back. "You almost got squished... If I was just a few seconds slower, you would've died."

Chiyu shuddered at that, looking at the Octoling's face. Her eyebrows were pressed together, and the freckles on her cheeks seemed dim. Freckles... Had she seen freckles on an Octoling, before?

"'M sorry, I don'..."

"Most don't know me." The other octoling giggled, pressing a partially covered hand against her face. Her smile seemed to light up. "I'm Dama. I used to deal with financials for Octavio, then Marina escaped and, well..." The octoling's tentacles wiggled around a bit, curling around the bottom of her skirt. "I got to know a lot of Octolings. I took over this little village, fortified it a bit."

Chiyu blinked. She blinked again, then rubbed her eyes with her hand- luckily, no scales had popped up there yet. "Why are ya takin' me in, then?"

"Humans are very weird." Dama's face turned sour, a slight scowl to her lips. "Did you know they tried to kill us when they saw us starting to gather here? So, sure, you have some scales. At least we can give you a home for the night."

Chiyu's hearts pounded. A home. Another Octoling, friendly, _away_ from Octavio. A _Home_. "For the night?"

Dama hummed, shaking her head as a frown covered her lips. "Something always happens. I guarantee one night, and you could always stay for more, but..." Dama sighed. "Humans... can you believe them?"

Chiyu laughed at that. Humans, like the ones who had pushed her into water. Like the one who had slept through her death. Octolings didn't do that. "I can't. Show me this 'ome."

Dama wrapped her arm behind Chiyu's back, pulling Chiyu's free arm over her right shoulder. Dama pushed the two of them up from the ground, and she started to walk the two of them towards one of the townhouses.

Chiyu's eyes wandered as she was carried. She spotted other Octolings poking their heads out of doors, pressing faces against windows, glancing at her... smiling.

People were happy to see her, even with the scales dotting her body. Her hearts seemed to warm in her chest.

Home. She was _home_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 soul | 1 Strength | 0 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength
> 
> ... this took a turn for the sudden positive after the last chapter.  
> Oops, new octo oc that won't be important probably


	5. Defend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> A man with horns and way too sharp teeth greets them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 soul | 1 Strength | 0 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength
> 
> (town prompt) A man is sitting on a big horn. "If you want a horn, do you want to pierce yourself?" If you pierce the horn, you die [Get Soul-1 / Variant" horn (power +2) "], if power is 1 or more Kill the man [soul +1]
> 
> ... ah

The morning was bright. Chiyu stretched her arms above her head, letting her back get back into shape. The sunlight gleamed through the window, and the octoling must've been woken by it. 

Either that, or that Chiyu was used to awaking early.

She checked her arms again. Yep, scales. She bent a leg towards herself, feeling how the blanket caught on some of her scales as she pulled it up towards her. Yep, she still had scales over her body. The octoling reached down with her arm and curled her claws under where the blanket was caught. 

After carefully pulling the blanket from beneath her scales, she tossed it off of herself and got out of bed. She walked over to the closet- Dama had given her a closet- and pulled out her clothes. They were now completely washed, with the former bloodstains wiped out completely. She put her short-sleeved red shirt on, pulled her shorts on, slipped her boots on, and placed her octoglasses on top of her head.

Her normal look. If you ignored the pink scales that lined her arms, legs, and some of her face, she was a normal octoling. Her tentacles barely touched her shoulders, styled on the back of her head.

With that, she went outside of her given bedroom and went down the stairs. Human houses were odd. Dama had told her they had swiped the village's houses from humans and fought them off when they threatened to attack back, so these were definitely just human houses.

Dama wasn't here. Chiyu took a glance at the kitchen area, looking at the strange metal object that seemed to be blending into the wall.

Humans were weird. Now that she was well rested, and had been weirded out by the houses her fellow octolings had chosen to inhabit, she walked out of the house.

Other octolings. All of them wore different things, none of them wore weapons, and their hair was all different. Her hair wasn't an oddity here. That was relieving! One octoling, one that wore a suit, looked towards her, and lifted her hand, waving.

Chiyu rose a hand in return, smile growing confident. The other octoling waved faster, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Chiyu waved her hand.

Nodding, the octoling walked towards the oddly shaped building that wasn't a house.

Would that be where Dama was?

Chiyu made her way towards the building. There was a gate connected to it that protected the town... how come Dama said something always happened?

Chiyu looked away from the weird building and noticed that there was a crowd where the gate was. This was not here last night- did something happen every morning?

Another octoling- this one wearing a dress- looked back at her. "Um... good morning, scaley." They said, nervous smile curling up on their lips. "There's... a weird man here."

Okay, not something they do every morning. Chiyu walked around the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of the gate and the weird man. 

She hoped it wasn't the man with scales. Cod, she really wished it wasn't the cloaked man.

Someone moved in front of her, and Chiyu saw him. 

He was not the cloaked man with the scales, with an odd face that never seemed to go negative. That was good. However, the other octoling was correct in that the man was weird. He looked younger, and had more hair on his head... and his chin? That was weird. He wore clothes that were more similar to Chiyu's than the cloaked man had worn. 

The weirdest thing, and the most noticeable, was the two curling horns that were poking out of the top of his head. Their ends were sharp, and they curled slightly back- but did not point down. In one of the man's hands was another horn- unlike the ones on his head, this one was bigger, had an even sharper edge, and had small dents where the man was holding it.

"I am telling you," Dama's voice rose up, over the crowd. "Humans are not accepted here! This is a community for those your species found unacceptable, I cannot let you in!"

Chiyu found herself drifting closer to the front of the crowd. The man's face was set in shadow, and she noticed the fangs poking out of his mouth. He was scowling.

"I must come in," He growled. Dama curled up her claws, though Chiyu could not see her expression. The man held tighter to the horn in his hands. "There is a special one here- I must. I must offer them..."

The man's eyes drifted over to Chiyu, and he stopped.

A special one.

_ Her scales. _

"Bring her closer." The man said. 

Dama turned around, skirt opening with the suddenness of her turn, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. She tapped closer, and Chiyu felt the eyes of the crowd on her. "Maeda... why did you come?"

"I wan'ed to ask..." Chiyu licked her lips. It felt silly now. "What I could do..."

Dama's eyes widened, and she pressed a hand to her face. "... I'm sorry, I didn't tell you about the town, did I? I..."

" _ Bring her here _ ." The man commanded, again, and Dama winced.

"Something weird always happens." Dama sighed, and she softly pressed a hand to Chiyu's arm. "I will be with you. I'm sorry."

The two of them walked back to the gate, where the man waited. When Dama settled closer to the gate, with Chiyu slightly behind her, the man shook his head. "This is an offer for her."

Dama growled, but she stepped back.

Chiyu was looking face to face with the man, looking at the dark colors of his horns, the gleaming white of his fangs, the different color of the horn in his hands. He smiled when Dama had stepped beside her.

"If you let me pierce you with this horn," The man lifted up the horn, and Chiyu realized that there was dried blood at the base of it, "you will gain horns. Horns are wonderful, impressive... intimidating..."

Get horns. What did he mean? Like however she got her scales? The piercing... the way he said it... She didn't trust that to mean he was just going to poke her. Especially with the point that was on it.

"No."

The man paused. The one hand that had been gripping the gate got tighter, and he curled his lips again, showing more- pointy- teeth. "Fine. I'll force it onto you."

The gate was suddenly torn aside, like the man had been holding back at this point. Through the hole he had made, he lunged at Chiyu.

Chiyu dodged one way, Dama dodged another. The man landed on the ground, the horn breaking the road below him, and he snarled. 

The octolings in the crowd backed away. The other octolings- had they been trained? Were they younger than her? Were these octolings one untouched by the military?

The man lunged at her again, and she rolled away. She kicked her legs and pushed with her hands in order to get further away.

"You will be blessed!" He growled. "It is our nature!"

Something was pressing against her back. She reached towards her back pocket, and felt something in it, pulling out...

**_He reached into his cloak with one hand, and he pulled out a knife._ **

The knife had a cover on it now. It didn't really fit the knife right, but it was covering it up, and likely tossed into the back of her mind as just something else she had in her pocket. 

The man lunged again. Chiyu rolled again, but this time, she remained close. She watched the splinters of the ground as the man's horn drove itself into the ground. He had his other hand in the air, which was curling with frustration.

She pulled the knife cover off. 

_ She couldn't let this continue. _

She lunged towards him, in return, and his eyes snapped up to her. His grip got tighter on the horn, and he tried to pull it out, arm tugging.

Chiyu let the knife sail towards his chest, planting it in the center of his chest. Something resisted her movement. The man, however, just froze.

He stopped pulling, though his eyes were widening.

If a heart stab didn't work...

She lifted the knife up, then let it sail.

A resistant force behind his head, yes, but she had aimed behind his ears, since his horns would've blocked the front of his head. 

Human blood was red.

He stopped trying to move. His eyes stopped moving. His lips were no longer forcing themselves to a scowl.

Chiyu pulled her knife out, and found that she was shaking. She glanced up to Dama, who was holding onto a pillar of the odd building. She poked her head out as the man collapsed, blood spilling out of him.

"...Maeda?" Dama asked, tone shaking. "Is that what you had the knife for?"

Chiyu dropped the knife onto the ground, wondering how she had it still. The other octolings were murmuring to each other, but their eyes were still on the two of them and the dead body.

"I... yes." Chiyu nodded, glancing down at the horned body, the blood still spilling out... but the man didn't move. Just like the first person she killed. "'M sorry, I shouldn' have-"

"No need! You saved us from a rampaging man- maybe he would've gone after us next! As leader..." Dama bowed her head. "Thank you. Even if the sight is..." Her lips curled. "Unpleasant."

"Got that right," An octoling in the crowd said. Some chuckling followed.

They were... proud. For preventing a danger to the town.

This was what you were meant to kill for. Not on a vague threat, a present one.

Chiyu got up from the ground, noting how some of the blood had gotten beneath her scales. How was she supposed to clean beneath them with a simple shower? Hm...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 soul | 1 Strength | 0 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength
> 
> i was like 'let chiyu live please'


	6. Searing Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: town  
> Fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 soul | 1 Strength | 0 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength
> 
> (town prompt) The inhabitants who seized you tied you to a pillar in an abandoned house. I want to burn every abandoned house.《Escape with Fire Resistant [Soul+1], Burnout with Possessed [Get Soul-2/Variant "Fireball (Fire Resistant, Search +1)"]》
> 
> uh oh. That... uh... hm.

The shower Chiyu took after killing the man had been oddly refreshing. 

The way the water had ran over her skin and washed her scales had not brought the usual tingling feeling that taking a shower normally had for her. Instead, it seemed to peacefully wash over it, with the water running over it still being felt, but her body didn't want to recoil at the mere presence of it.

She felt herself smiling at the water.

The red from the blood slowly washed away into pink. Then that pink slowly turned clear. Dama had tossed her clothes to wash as soon as she had gotten back from discarding the man's body, so it would be ready by the time she was done in the shower.

The shower was turned off. 

As Yana exited the shower, she eyed a mini pool that was also in this human bathroom. What was that for, anyway? Hm.

She headed for bed, making sure to grab her clean clothes along the way. It would be a good night's sleep, aside from the fact that maybe she would experience nightmares of the men she had killed...

* * *

She woke up unable to move.

Well, she could move some parts of her body, but not very far at all. Her entire lower body was tied, and her hands were tied with the same bonding, so even with the movement she did with her arms, it wasn't helping much. 

She was... tied to a pole. Her ears pressed against something round. The texture was unfamiliar, but definitely a pole. When had she woken up here? She was in town, her dream was surprisingly nice, and then she was on a pole?

She looked down below her, and she paled.

A few octolings were standing in a crowd of humans, and all of them were glaring up at her.

"Another unusual one joined the ranks." One octoling said, as if he was waiting for her to wake up. "Brought a murderous man with horns."

Another octoling, this one holding a lit torch, followed after him. "Dama insists on bringing these unusual ones in. For what purpose? Making the town unsafe?" She held the torch a little higher.

"Unacceptable!" Someone called from the crowd.

Chiyu's hearts were pounding, pounding, pounding, what was this? Those Octolings- she had seen them in the crowd, she remembered, why were they angry?

Why?

"What shall we do?" A third octoling said, the question not meant to be answered seriously. The crowd grumbled their responses...

All of them sounded like the same answer. 

Chiyu's eyes widened. No. That couldn't...

The octoling with the torch grinned. "We put her to the torch! Let her burn for being another one to bring us trouble!"

It was.

Cheering followed, and the Octoling with the torch laughed. She put the torch to the bottom of the pile that was leading up to the wrapped up Chiyu, and the wooden pile lit up. The crowd jeered, laughed, and some turned to leave...

Through... the door.

The door. She was inside. 

Fire inside of a building.

Chiyu wanted to move, but she could only make her shoulders move, and her arms weren't in good places to scratch away at the rope. She tried anyway.

The Octoling with the torch lifted it up, giggling. "Special delivery!"

The torch sailed into Chiyu's head, and the hot, searing pain flashed through her mind as the firey end hit. It tumbled down the pile, the flames spreading as it tumbled down. 

The Octoling waved Chiyu goodbye, then exited out the door, closing it behind her.

She couldn't move, she could only watch as smoke started to gather at the top of the building. Chiyu could smell the smoke from where she was tied, ashen and gross, wanting to curl up into her lungs.

The fire grew, as well. It consumed and ate the pile, traveling up towards her. She couldn't move away, she could only move her head around and watch the flames starting to spread along the floor.

The smoke was getting closer. She inhaled, then shut her mouth tight. Hold her breath. Hold her breath.  The smoke was getting to her eyes, and she tried to screw them tight, but her eyes were watering.

The fire traveled to her tied up legs, and the spark of pain started to spread. It was manageable at first, but as more fire reached that point, the fire grew larger, and the fire's pain was less like sparks and more like a drilling pain.

She couldn't hold her breath anymore. She choked out her held breath, and the smoke took its opportunity to swirl into her. She coughed, smoke crawling into her throat as the pain grew bigger, going from a drilling pain to searing,

Searing

Pain.

Tearing,

_ She can feel as the water tears away at her thin skin, can feel the ink leak out into the water- _

Hacking

Coughing

Air,

_ She can't breathe, the water is swarming her, tearing her body apart and stealing her breath, her bubbles of air floating away, _

Hacking

Pain,  _ Searing Pain _ , burning

Orange red dancing

Flame

Loud

Boiling

Melting

Loosening,

_ Her pink ink slips into the water around her, tainting it, mixing with the bubbles, and she can't breathe, she can't breathe- _

Hacking

Ash

Searing

Close

Pain

Orange red

Vision

Blinding,

_ The water is darkening, she can't see,  _ **_she can't see_ ** _ - _

Pain

Pain

Pain

Tearing

Consuming

Searing

Blind

Blind

Breathe,

_ She can't get a breath of anything other than what is killing her- _

Breathe

Searing

Pain

**No**

_ She wants to cry- _

Breathe

Pain

Pain

**Pain**

**_Pa i n_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> whoops chiyu died again
> 
> .... uh... advise me on what tags to add. I'm pretty sure that wasn't very pretty.


	7. Mercy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: hospital  
> When you notice, you are tied to a chair that is fixed on the floor of the room.《Release restraint with strength of 5 or more. [Release Restraint on death when strength is four or less]》

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> (hospital prompt) A demon has come.《Power 4 or less is instantly killed in the restrained state [soul-1], Power 5 is carefully crushed and killed in the restrained state [soul-2], and power 5 or less is killed by torture in the restrained state [soul-3] , Fights other than those mentioned above and dies [Obtain variant "Demon arm (power + 5)"]》
> 
> I... see.

Chiyu Maeda screamed.

Her scream echoed around the room she was in. The shining white walls, with cracks tracing down parts of it, did not answer her, but the color was a sharp contrast to

_Orange and red dancing along her skin and the room, burning into her_

Her hearts were still pounding. She attempted to move again, breathing staggered as she found herself unable to get up, unable to move from her spot, was someone going to kill her again?

Why was she so warm? Her tentacles seemed to press against her head, and their warmth was unlike her body warmth, a bit hotter, but they were not painful, but shouldn't they have been?

Why? Why?

Her breathing quickened. Breathing, breathing, not marred by smoke curling into her-

_Her throat was ashen, she couldn't scream_

Her restraints were different. Instead of being held to a pole, she was sitting in a chair. Her arms were on the sides of a chair, though they were held in place by clamps. The rest of her body was held in the clamps, as well- across her chest, waist, legs, and ankles..

Her arms looked a bit different, she couldn't move, and her brain was firing and she had to escape, 

_There was fire dancing across her body and the building she was in,_

She was still breathing quickly, staggering, trying to get a hold of the situation.

The door in front of her opened, and someone stepped through. 

They looked sort of like a Squidling, but their tentacles seemed... sharpened? Their eyes were pure red, no pupils, and the entire body seemed to be the same shade as the face mask all Inklings had. A tail curled up behind them, sharp and pointing and red.

When the Squidling noticed her, they paused. Chiyu couldn't really focus, but this was- this was different, wasn't it? She couldn't tell how, but-

She was still restrained, and that fact lingered to her. Her breathing quickened again.

The Squidling walked up to her, and their eyebrows curved down, worry flashing in the pure red eyes. "Oh... I'm sorry."

There's a hand on her shoulder, and she can feel that her clothes are in tact. She wasn't burning. Wasn't melting.

"Breathe." The squidling said, their other hand gripping onto one of Chiyu's hands. They were rubbing circles into the back of it. 

Their red eyes were staring into Chiyu's, and it was like the fire, like the fire- 

"Breathe. Count to 5."

Chiyu took in a shaky breath. She counted internally. 

1... 2... 3.. 4... 5... 

She breathed out, and she felt... less shaky. She counted again. Breathed in. Counted. Out.

The red eyes were not the same shade as the fire's red, but it was darker, matching the pure blackness of the skin of the squidling.

"That's right. Keep breathing." The squidling was calming, their hand rubbing a circle on the back of hers, the hand on her shoulder pressed firmly into it. Chiyu wasn't melting, she was fully here. The squidling's voice was quiet, but firm. "Stare into my eyes. Breathe."

Calming... voice.

The room was different. They weren't wood. There were more like the walls back in the Valley. Plainer.

She focused back to the dark red eyes, breathing. She was unable to move, but all she could focus on was the red eyes now, how nice the shade was...

How drowsy she felt...

The squidling nodded, black tentacles dangling over Chiyu's legs. "Don't you feel better? Your death is not now."

Her death... was not... yeah, that was right...

Her eyes were drooping closed... her hearts were slowing... the demon's red eyes was all she could see, but, somehow, was still... comfortable...

"I can tell you've gone through terrible things." The squidling said... were their lips curling? 

... Chiyu saw their eyes... half-lidded... filled with... sadness...

"This is not the place for you."

The feeling... of the hand... rubbing... on hers... was... fading...

The squidling... was... speaking...

"May you end up somewhere better."

What... was...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> at least her death wasn't painful this time?


	8. Reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: school  
> A chime sounds and you raise your consciousness. A giant dragon crosses the hallway of the school building looking up from the schoolyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> (school prompt) in the middle of a full pool, find a slipper floating. The name is written... 《 when possessing water resistance, [if lost half of name, regain it and +1 soul]》
> 
> i did rewrite the thing in the brackets, because it was confusingly worded and that's how it worked.

Chiyu's eyes struggled open, and she found herself staring up at blue. Clouds drifted across the blue sky above her, and she could see the faintest hint of yellow at the edge of her vision. She had just been inside, where...?

She sat up, pressing a hand against her forehead- why was she so warm? She had just been inside, right? She remembered white- no, brown- wait, white...? She blinked, then shook her head, trying to get a grip. There was a bit of a gap in her memory after the fire had consumed her, and she knew there was something that was supposed to be there, but...

Nothing. Only the slight impression of a dark red and white walls. Had she been brainwashed, like she heard rumors of before she had left for the surface? That thought shivered through her, but when she reached up to her forehead, she felt something tickle her hands... and also that the glasses perched on top were her octoglasses.

If she had been brainwashed, she had been left pretty much the same as she was before she had been brainwashed...

She got to her feet, and her ears perked at the sound of something heavy... in the near area, but not near enough so that she could see it. Around her was a solid wall of fence. The grass beneath her feet swayed in a bit of wind, and she couldn't help her smile. The wind was cool on her face and arms. 

Her arms...

Her arms had a bit more scales than when she last remembered seeing them. Instead of a bit of scattered scales here and there, there was almost a solid band around her arms where the scales were. She still had some skin, though, and... She squinted at the skin. It looked like its normal color, but Chiyu swore that there was something red about it. Almost like she was looking through glasses that were red tinted, but the red tint was only over her arms.

Chiyu Maeda sighed, and the Octoling began to walk near the walled fence. It had a lot of wire sitting at the top of it, so even if she wanted to jump over, the wire would be... painful. Her boots crunched against the grass as she walked, and she heard the distant steps of... whatever was out here too. She hoped it wouldn't kill her.

After walking near the wall for a bit, staring over at the weird buildings that seemed to be in the center of this whole thing, she noticed a small pond. The small pond was a bit closer to the building, and Chiyu noticed a door on the building closest to her leading to her location. If anyone was inside, they could come out to... what? What was the point of the pond? Maybe it was just in a natural place and the buildings were built around the pond. Chiyu remembered when she had designed a few kettles, how annoying natural lakes were to build around. Maybe it was the same here.

She kneeled down by the water, intending to take a quick drink, but she caught herself in the reflection and stopped her hand right above the water, staring.

Her tentacles were on fire.

No, wait... her tentacles... were fire? If it was on fire, she would feel it, right? Her Octoglasses was perched exactly where she usually had them, not even being slightly affected. She took the hand she had been intending to scoop into the pond and lifted it up to her burning tentacles, gently touching her palm to one of them. 

All she felt was something slightly warmer tickling her palm, and she pressed against something soft- her tentacles? They were still in there? Were her tentacles simply emanating fire? Chiyu's confused look was reflected back at her as she stared into the pond at her own hand, rubbing over her tentacles in the fire that was not hurting her.

She lifted her hand from her tentacles, and again, she drove it down to take a drink. Right before she scooped up, she noticed a bit of red glowing onto the water, right around where her hand was. Again, she returned her hand to her. She looked away from the pond this time, looking at her arm again.

Her arms... were glowing red. She checked her open legs, and her eyes ran over the bands of scales and the slight red glow to them, as well. Her legs were glowing red. Was her face glowing red? When had that happened? Her eyebrows pressed together. Well, she had it now, but it was just so weird...

Chiyu finally reached for the pondwater again, and no new changes to her body interrupted her train of thought. She scooped up some water and took a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> yes, you only regain soul if you've also lost ur name with water resistance. frustrating.
> 
> Also, the reason this chapter was late? didn't feel like writing yesterday when i got home from work.


	9. Gated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: school  
> Dragon. You know exactly what's going to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> (school prompt) The school gate is tightly closed. A dragon approaching from behind breaks through the iron fence with you. 《Win the dragon with strength of 6 or more [obtain the variant "Dragon Tail (Strength +5)" and move to Town], 5 or less strength, die [soul -2]》
> 
> ..........

She continued to travel along the walls around the buildings. Chiyu couldn't really hear the loud footsteps as much anymore. Whoever that was, they must've left by now. The grass crunched under her own steps, quiet as the breeze flowing through her firey tentacles.

That was still so weird.

She turned again, and she noticed an iron gate. Oh! She dashed towards it, her boots stomping harder on the ground as she ran towards it. A gate... her mind flashed back to Dama, keeping some gates open for her as she ran towards it. If she could open the gate, she would be able to go away from here!

Whatever here was! She just really didn't trust places she didn't know right now, okay?

She made it to the gate, and she stopped, looking up at it. Chiyu reached out her arms towards the iron bars, thick and unable to be squeezed through, and clasped her hands on two of them. She pressed against the gate... then pressed a bit harder... then grunted as she pressed harder...

Ow, her wrists.

She stepped away from the gate, shaking her wrists out. The gate didn't budge an inch. The octoling stared at the gate, wondering how she could squeeze out- the gaps were so small, she wasn't sure even her octo form would be able to get through...

A shadow loomed over her, and Chiyu's hearts pounded a bit faster. Her skin glowed in the shadow of...

She turned around and looked up. And up.

Whatever was casting a shadow on her, she had no idea what it was. It was lizard-like in quality, with scales that covered every inch of its body. Something was curled against its body, but was slowly unfolding into something that looked like bat wings. Four legs extended from the main body, as well, and on the end of each leg were very sharp claws. It huffed, smoke coming out of the nostrils on its muzzle.

What was it looking at her for?

Chiyu didn't have to wait long to find out. The large creature lunged, catching her under its sharp claws, puncturing into her and squishing her into the gates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> I..... uhhh..... doooon't like how low her soul is right now. 
> 
> At least the death was still quick? Not painless. but quick for sure.


	10. Written

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> starting point: school  
> A chime telling the time resounds in the hallway, and you raise your consciousness. The clock remains at 6:06 pm forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search
> 
> (school prompt) Calligraphy "Twilight" written on the wall of the corridor. When you search for your name, you notice that you can't remember the first half of the name. 《Lose the first half of the name [soul-1] (no effect if already not there), if you forget all the names [soul-2]》

Chiyu's eyes were pressed shut as she gained consciousness. She was leaning against the wall, her tentacles of fire gently curling around her face, as if trying to keep her in a sleeping state. She couldn't blame herself for that.

She was... tired. Something in her sank low, and Chiyu couldn't get herself to pull it back up. She couldn't, and she didn't want to try.

There was the ticking of a clock nearby, and Chiyu knew she was inside a building. Clocks weren't hung outside, unless humans were truly super strange. She wanted to open her eyes, but her body was telling her to rest, rest...

But Chiyu had to keep moving. She couldn't just... stay, waiting for someone to stumble upon her and kill her.

She forced her eyes open, and her eyes met a wall of paper. Each sheet of paper was separate, and the word written on them all had slightly different curves to the letter... but all of them had the same word written on them.

Twilight.

For some reason, that drove a shiver down her spine. Chiyu used the wall to help her get up, pushed herself off it to get closer to the strange writing, and realized there were names in the corner of each paper. All of the papers had names. Were they who wrote these...?

No, wait. Did she recognize some of these? Ahato Mizuta... Marina Iida... She knew those two names...

Other engineers names... her engineers?

She glanced over another sheet of paper, with this paper's Twilight being shaky, a bit of ink bleeding down the white parchment. She glanced up to the corner of the paper, seeing a name.

Chiyu Maeda.

The octoling with scales and a head of flame let her claws brush beneath the name. Her eyes focused on this name. It felt... off.

Who was Chiyu? And why did they share her last name?

The octoling's claws stopped brushing beneath the name written there, and her tentacles froze on top of her head. The fire seemed to die down, as well.

What was her first name? 

She knew she shared the last name with whoever this Chiyu was, but she looked back into herself and could only find vague fog when trying to compare it to the name in front of her.

Who was she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 soul | 1 strength | 1 Search  
> mutations:  
> scales - water resistance, +1 strength  
> fireball - fire resistance, +1 search  
> Lost First Name
> 
> can you excuse me for a moment? (screams)


End file.
